ADVERT BREAK - HENRY NORMAL

Ange and Henry in person

I started following Henry on his facebook page not least because I have always admired him and his poetry and collaborative comic TV work but also because of the delightful support of Henry for his son Johnny’s wonderful paintings (Johnny is autistic and indeed artistic and a wonderful creative force in his own right)

Henry’s Facebook page

One of Johnny’s truly lovely paintings - this one a personal favourite

For The Uninitiated Here’s Who Henry . . . .

Henry started the Manchester Poetry Festival, and similarly in his native Nottingham (Like Robin Hood) he has BAFTAs, he was half of Baby Cow with the legendary comic genius Steve Coogan, he has been known to tour with PULP, is responsible for a Packet of Three, The Mighty Boosh, Red Dwarf, Moone Boy, Red Dwarf he has written some 18 poetry volumes which can all be found here  Flapjack Press he knows but is not related to Paul Calf, Alan Partridge, Marion & Geoff and Mrs Merton
 

Pale Blue Flower - Henry & Johnny

PALE BLUE FLOWER

Some blooms are seldom seen

The garish can crowd any garden

Sometimes the world overwhelms

And size can easily be mistaken for importance

But there is a subtle beauty

To be sought nearer the soil

The Earth

Is not the largest planet in the solar system

But it is the only one

That supports love

Henry says::

Painting by my son, Johnny Art By Johnny

More Art for The Day: Henry Normal’s son Johnny

  . . . . .with a pome from Dad       

Henry Normal

"

Beyond the walled garden

The unseen bloom still holds its beauty
no matter if no-one cares
and its petals when they fall
are not for your tears

..."

Oil painting by my son, Johnny( Art By Johnny)

From the genius Henry Normal

Writer, poet, film and TV producer, founder of the Manchester Poetry Festival, Henry Normal just posted this:

This had me howling with laughter . . .

"A very kind person who follows this page sent me this photo yesterday. It seems my identity has been stolen for a dating app. It has now been taken down. I've written this poem referring to the details therein."

SWIPED 

I’m told I’m on a dating app

One called OK Cupid

As bait to lure a female date

Preferably one that’s stupid

There’s plenty more catfish in the sea

Strange they should steal my identity

It never did that much for me

No wonder they changed my personality 

I appear to have acquired a cat

that I didn’t know was mine

And I suppose I should be flattered

that I’m only fifty-nine

The truth’s clearly not cutting it

Of course they have to lie

So it seems that I now smoke 

and I’ve become a Gemini

It’s certainly news I live in LA 

and rate a ninety five percent score

Who knew I’ve now got kids

or that I might want more ?

It says I never smoke marijuana

so who ate all those Pringles?

I can’t wait to tell Ange, my wife

that apparently I’m single

Henry Normal

Henry Normal: Rye Bay

 Speaking of poets . . . . . .I have started following the wondrous Henry Normal on Facebook:

Henry Normal 

Rye Bay

RYE BAY IS SUCH A SHORT NAME

FOR SUCH A LONG BEACH

The skeleton of an abandoned groyne

pierces the sand like dinosaur teeth

or a mermaids graveyard

leading into the shallows

As shingle rises upto an embankment

the blackened wood disappears

Along the coast

the before-and-after-picture is complete

New substantial slats

now slow the inevitable drift

their solid uprights

sturdy and uniform

like sailors on parade

or wooden battlements

they too will be eroded

and outlived

Further out into the wash

another outcrop of corroded pegs

suggests driftwood

or a sunken vessel

I responded by saying “ I said goodbye to my old friend Ray there! Headline reads . . . .: (geddit?)

Fortunately, he laughed . . . . .